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When the people called out your name louder than mine, you see, when they saw you as a god how long before they saw you as their king?

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~ King Eurystheus to Hercules.

King Eurystheus is the tertiary antagonist of the 2014 epic action movie Hercules. He was the former boss of Hercules but revealed as helper of Lord Cotys.

He was portrayed by Joseph Fiennes.

In the movie

in the movie he is introduced as Hercules former employer, who tasked Hercules with killing the legendary Hydra (which turned out to be a group of outlaws with masks). When he realized how the smallfolk cheered for Hercules and how little they cheered for their own king, Eurystheus decided to get rid of him. Knowing that killing Hercules would bring a revolt, Eurystheus drugged Hercules and killed his family, letting three wolves rip them apart. He blamed Hercules for the murder and banished him.

When Hercules is imprisoned in Coty's dungeon, Eurystheus reveals himself to Hercules and tells him that he murdered his wife and children and that he aided Cotys all along. He brought with him the three wolves that killed Hercules' family, but Hercules manages to free himself and his companions and kill the three beasts.

Death

After his escape from Cotys's dungeon, Hercules follows a fleeing Eurystheus and confronts him in Cotys's throne room. Though Eurystheus begs for mercy by saying that Cotys poisoned his mind, Hercules stabs him with his own dagger, killing him.